Al Pacino to play Joe Paterno in HBO's biopic about the Penn State scandal

The Jerry Sandusky sex scandal that took down Penn State's illustrious college football program is getting the HBO movie treatment. Al Pacino is set to star in the project, with Barry Levinson attached to direct and exec produce. Pacino will play Joe Paterno, the winningest coach in college football history who becomes embroiled in the sexual abuse scandal surrounding his longtime assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky.
USA TODAY

Al Pacino will take on the role of the late Joe Paterno in a HBO movie about the Penn State sexual-abuse scandal.(Photo: Getty Images/AP)

The rumors are true. Al Pacino will star in an HBO biopic about the Penn State scandal, senior vice president of corporate communications Jeff Cusson confirmed to USA TODAY.

The actor will play longtime Penn State football coach Joe Paterno.

Under the direction of Barry Levinson, the movie is set to chronicle Jerry Sandusky’s sexual abuse scandal.

According to a press release, the film will follow the fallout from the coach's perspective. “After becoming the winningest coach in college football history, Joe Paterno is embroiled in Penn State’s Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal, challenging his legacy and forcing him to face questions of institutional failure on behalf of the victims,” the release details.

This won’t be the first time Pacino is playing a big name on the small screen for HBO.

In 2010, he won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his role as euthanasia activist Jack Kevorkian in You Don't Know Jack (also directed by Levinson), and in 2013, he played famed record producer Phil Spector in the film Phil Spector.

He even has experience playing a football coach thanks to the 1999 Oliver Stone film Any Given Sunday.